Archdiocese says lecture series no longer welcome at center

St. Louis, Mo., Jul 20, 2005 / 12:00 am (CNA).- The Archdiocese of St. Louis has announced its decision to no longer host lunchtime lectures, conducted by the Aquinas Institute, at its Cardinal Rigali Center in Shrewsbury.

The institute had been conducting lectures there on a variety of subjects since 2003, such as the controversies that were drummed up by "The Da Vinci Code" and the "Left Behind" series.

The last lecture was given earlier this month by Sr. Jean deBlois on the stem-cell research debate.

The institute was informed of the decision in May. Archdiocese spokesman Jamie Allman reportedly said the archdiocese would not comment further on the decision.